Users are able to Identify inventory exceptions, automatically address forecasting challenges, and maximize product turns for a continually improving ROI. They can drive new business with integrated sales and marketing components and understand vital sales, accounting and inventory performance metrics using dashboards.

DDI provides enormous amount of information if you know where to look.

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I like the fact you can create customized reports in Analytics. Enabling you to run one report to capture the information you want eliminating the need to run multiple reports and weeding out the information you don't need.

Likes Least

I don't like the fact you can't run an aging report for one specific customer file without creating a report in analytics.

Recommendations

I would recommend finding out and understanding what information flows through from screen to screen or how well the different portions of the software communicate with each other.

We are a distributor and this system is perfect for our industry

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The system provides a smooth process, compared to our old system we couldn't keep track of old/new costs or receipts. I train everybody at our company and DDI is very easy to write a process and train right away. To be honest I am very happy we made the change to DDI, it's perfect for what we need to do everyday to service our customers. I also think we don't know everything this system could provide but we are in the works of finding out.

Likes Least

I wish there was an easier way to identify sales orders from machine part orders. If a customer calls in and says "I need a part for my machine" but if it's a customer who places a lot of orders with us the sales history screen doesn't load because it's a lot of information. If we had an option to select the sales rep name in the sales history screen it would only pull up the orders that my machine tech sold not every order. This would make serving our customer on the machine side easier and more efficient. One more thing, customer service uses the customer order pad when entering orders but when they hit save the items appear on the sales order in alphabetically order. This is an issue because we have customers who could place up to 10-20 items per order and if they used the pad it makes it very difficult to check the sales order before saving it, if they have a big order they manual enter the codes on the sales order.

Recommendations

The training process took us about a week and of course it's stressful but after about 2-3 weeks you realized how much you could get done. After 3 weeks we had no more re-work being done...once you learn DDI and what it can do for your company you won't be disappointed.

Distributors Deserve DDI

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DDI is forever changing with the times. The mobile revolution and ease of access are upon us, and DDI is following suit with their CRM features and mobile capabilities. Recently we were able to get rid of our other CRM and downsize into one software. This made it extremely easy to have our inside and outside staff communicate better.

Likes Least

I wish that DDI had a customer import feature like it's product import feature. This would make importing leads and customer information easier. But, I know that DDI listens to its users and is constantly making changes to better fit their customers. I may see this feature in future upgrades.

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Cross train employees in all features of DDI. It has helped our organization understand the capabilities of the system and how changes made will affect other departments.

DDI is a breeze to use

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I have been with Caravan Packaging for a month, the company launched DDI 6 months before I started and I can honestly say training on the job has never been easier, I've used many different systems but never one so user friendly. There are so many different ways to navigate to the same screen and the help index "is actually helpful!". I've also heard a lot of feed back from other employees that were here before me that DDI has saved so much time, no longer having to use handwritten Invoices and now routing orders to the trucks for delivery is a breeze. Also communication with customers has increased, we can now email or fax them their invoice with just a few clicks. Thank you DDI team for helping this small company in a BIG way.

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I really don't have much to say here, I have had difficulties with Reports, especially the Advanced Report Writer, however I believe with time and further training I can become an expert at generating any kind of report.

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At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of screens we used daily, but with time and training I found out how seamless DDI System really is, once you've got the hang of it you can flow from one screen to the other easily, helping me do my job faster and better.

Effective and Efficient All-in-One Software

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DDI is a solid system that allows you to do just about everything with plenty of useful features and extras. Managing our database is extremely easy with DDI. The customer support is great and very helpful. Whenever I have issues or questions, I know I can quickly get an answer. It is frequently updated and improved based on customer feedback.

Likes Least

Sometimes the updates contain big changes, from a functionality standpoint, that take some getting used to. The built-in help function needs to be updated as the software is updated to reflect the updates so we can read up on the new stuff and how to use it. Sometimes there's overlap - several different buttons that lead to the same thing and unnecessary steps that lead you to the same thing in the end. Those could be eliminated to reduce clicking and clutter.

Recommendations

DDI's software is extremely easy to learn and use. You're always going to learn something new by clicking around and reading documentation and stuff, and for the vast majority of the features offered, they're very easy to learn/master on your own. For those features that have a learning curve, there's plenty of documentation to guide you along in addition to the great customer support team. They're very thorough and make sure you're fully satisfied by having screen-sharing sessions and walking you through it step-by-step. Overall, Inform is a great tool to help you become more efficient, organized, and competitive. Love it!

Cody from Shearer Supply, Inc.
Specialty: Plumbing & HVACSize of portfolio: 101 or more usersPortfolio size: 101 or more users

May 2015

May 2015

DDI changed my work habits!

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The reporting that Inform provides is unlike any other we could find. We made the switch from an old DOS based program, and the ease of being able to click through things without having to stop, use the bracket key or cntrl ** has made life easier. The projected purchase orders & critical inventory reports can be ran every night and ready for our purchasing staff every morning so we don't have to sift through the prior day's transactions to see what we need to reorder.

Likes Least

This one isn't really a big deal, but we do run across the transaction that, although the account isn't set up as tax exempt, the project/sales order will be. Instead of being able to click 1 button to make the sales order tax exempt, you have to click several spots on every line item. Just a bit tedious in my opinion.

Recommendations

We have 11 stores in 5 different states, so anyone with locations as spread out as ours would probably like the ability to have access to "live" inventory and transactions. From a management side, being able to pinpoint reports down to a single product if you want or see the grand overview of a "family group" couldn't be easier to do. I'd highly recommend this software to anyone out there.

Applicative

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I love the simplicity of this software! It seems that even the least, least computer savvy individual is able to work within Inform.

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The thing I like least about Inform is the location in comparison to my location. I am on Mountain Time, they are Eastern Time, so we have a two hour difference, and it seems that the majority of my support calls are always late in the day, and I have to wait until morning for a reply.

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Keep your local IT people in contact with DDI during the entire setup process so that there is no confusion as to how and why things are set up the way they are.

DDI Success!

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What I like most is that DDI makes there program very user friendly, which helps out a great deal when training new hires. The "save cart" option is a great tool and a huge time saver when looking for items in the same category.

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That you have to use Tab for everything instead of Enter.

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If you havent used their software by now, do so! Definitely worth the investment.

Recommendations

DDI Inform: Next-Gen ERP for a Changing Marketplace

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The software is incredibly flexible and able to adapt to most any need your company may have. The support is always prompt and courteous whether via direct email or through the DDI User Community Portal site. It (the software) is constantly evolving, and with the transition to the new Inform 2 screens there is even more data at the user's fingertips.

Likes Least

Sometimes it seems there may be too many options, making it hard to know if you're using the software in the most efficient way possible. This is not so much a negative aspect of the software or the vendor as much as an opportunity for consultation with DDI staff to address the best workflow. This will likely become less of an issue as Inform 2 is continually phased into future updates.

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When evaluating the system, it is crucial that you take the opportunity to make positive changes to your workflow. That has been our biggest struggle when transitioning from our old SAGE system to DDI. Our office was very set in its paper flow and so many changes that could have made us more efficient right away took years to implement.

Streamlined process

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We love how this system has streamlined our processes! The point and click type of software makes it very easy to use.

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I wish we could have had a little more onsite training. We feel that currently we are using only about 20% of what the system can really do for us. The only problem is that we don't know what we don't know.

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Make sure that you ask a lot of questions! If you are looking for particular functions...ask DDI if the system is capable.

DDI experience has been great!

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I have used several ERP software programs for the distribution industry. DDI by far is the most robust, simple and easy to use so far. The CRM package specifically is my favorite. It has allowed me to better serve my customers with hundreds of reporting features at my fingertips. In the past with other ERP programs it is very difficult to gather numbers and really know your numbers. The pivot tables for sales analysis by customer, part number or whatever info I need can be accessed on the software.

Likes Least

My least favorite part about the product is searching for products among thousands in our product catalog. I wish you could see the price for each product on the menu instead of choosing each product to see pricing. In distribution the product master, or what we can sell is obviously the most important. It is sometimes hard to choose the right product unless you know what is the cheapest or best option while searching.

Recommendations

I would recommend the CRM package to anyone evaluating the software. In distribution, you want a software that you can manage your sales with unlimited reporting capabilities. Therefore, keeping your customers happy and driving higher sales. I am a salesman, but the inventory capabilities from an operation standpoints is just as worthy as the CRM package.